Y-chromosome DNA shared by 40 men with 6 names that match names in ancient pedigrees of men descended from Ely Carroll, and from Cian who lived in 4th-century Ireland. The 40 are 50% of a total database of 79 men. Included is a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Names: Bohan/Bowes, Carroll, Flanagan, Mahar, Murphy, Redmond.

All 10 who have BIG Y test results share many unique SNPs downstream of R-DF21, including Z16281.

Key STR markers: 390=25 and 492=11.

Historical pedigrees now known as a result of DNA testing not to be related to Ely Carroll and Cian: Eoghanachta and Brian Boru.

Discussion

Resources

I have no business writing this. I am not a Carroll. My wife is, but we found out she is the wrong kind of Carroll. Like many Carrolls in America, my wife's family thought they were related to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, signer of the Declaration of Independence (who, in turn, was descended from the Ely Carrolls).

After I had my Y-chromosome DNA tested and found out I was descended from The Three Collas, I started to wonder about my wife's Carrolls. We found a male second cousin of my wife, Michael Patrick Carroll, and had his Y-DNA tested (Y-DNA is passed down from male to male like surnames). Turns out, he was descended from the Carrolls of Ossory rather than the Carrolls of Ely Carroll. But I was hooked on Ely Carroll. Kevin Carroll, adminstrator of the Carroll project at Family Tree DNA, had found a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. I decided to start a project at Family Tree DNA devoted to the DNA of all surnames descended from Ely Carroll.

My interest in Ely Carroll DNA was also spurred by the fact that there is a kinship between Ely Carroll DNA and my own Clan Colla DNA. The common ancestor of the two groups goes back 2,500 years or so, but each group happens to be closer to the other than to any other group.

This page is about the DNA of an ancient Irish clan called Ely Carroll. This is a name that surfaced in the Middle Ages. Ely is an anglicized form of Éile, a territory in Tipperary and Offaly. This clan was originally known as Clan Cian or Ciannachta, going back to a man named Cian in the 4th century. The most famous person to descend from this clan in moderntimes is Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.

In 2008, a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton joined the Carroll DNA Project at Family Tree DNA and had his Y-chromosome DNA tested. His DNA is published along side other Carrolls on the Carroll DNA Project Results page at FTDNA. He is kit 112378.

Y-DNA is handed down male to male like traditional surnames. So, his DNA is the same as his ancestor, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Other Carrolls in the Carroll DNA Project could now see whether their DNA matched up. About 10% of the Carrolls in the project match up.

Signature of Charles Carroll of Carrrollton on the Declaration of Independence, 1776.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton is important because he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He was the only Roman Catholic to sign, and he was the sole surviving signer following the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1826.

The pedigree of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and his descendant who has tested his DNA, goes back to 4th century Ireland. And the descendant's DNA matches up with the DNA of men with six surnames that are supposed to be related.

The identification of Ely Carroll DNA rests not just on the pedigree of the person with kit 112378 who is descended from Charles carroll of Carrollton. It also rests upon the similarity between a set of six related names in ancient pedigrees and a set of six names among 40 men with matching DNA.

Many people with Ely Carroll DNA do not have historical surnames. The major names are: Dooley, Purcell, Springer, Tracey. Ely Carroll DNA has not yet been found for several historical Ely Carroll names: Corcoran, Healy, O'Gara/O'Hara. See Historical Surnames.

John O'Hart (1824-1902) provides a pedigree entitled "Princes of Ely O'Carroll" in his book, Irish Pedigrees; or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, published in 1892 (fifth edition), Volumes I and II.

Google Books has made the 1892 edition available online: Volume I and Volume II. The University of Pittsburgh Library System has made the 1892 edition available online as a PDF file or Ebook: Volume I and Volume II. Library Ireland has made a transcript of Volume I available online.

Years 1150 to 1550. The October 1883 issue of the Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland contains an article by Frederick John O'Carroll entitled "True Version of the Pedigree of Carroll of Carrollton." The article takes the above pedigree from Fionn, King of Ely, who was slain 1205, up to Donough, who lived around 1550.

Detail from Map of Irelande by Baptist Boazio, 1599. Included as Map 2 in Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500-1782 with permission of the British Library, Maps, C.2.cc.1.

Years 1550 to the present. In the year 2000, The University of North Crolina Press published a book that includes a pedigree of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. The author is Ronald Huffman, professor of history at the College of William and Mary. The title is Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500-1782. Below is a pedigree taken from that book. (Generation numbers have been added to facilitate reference to the more distant pedigrees provided above.)

BC 2000: L21 SNP occurs north of the Alps in a Celt with an R1b haplotype
BC 1000: DF21 SNP occurs in Britain in a man with the L21 SNP
43-410 England and Wales controlled by the Roman Empire
300-400: Cian, with the DF21 SNP and marker 492=11
950: Surnames adopted by Ely Carroll descendants in Ireland
1014: O'Cearbhaill Ele fought at the Battle of Clontarf
1205: Fionn, King of Ely, dies
1377: Donough, Chief of Ely, dies
1607-1609: Flight of the Earls, Plantation of Ulster
1632-1636: Ely Carroll described in Annals of the Four Masters
1634: Ely Carroll described in Keating's The History of Ireland
1652: Cromwellian Settlement
1688: Charles Carroll the Settler goes Maryland as the colony's Attorney General
1702: Charles Carroll the Settler buys land near Ellicott City in Northern Maryland that would become Douhregan Manor
1706: Charles Carroll the Settler buys land that would become the Carroll House in Annaplois, Maryland
1727: Charles Carroll of Annapolis builds Doughregan Manor as a country home near Ellicott City in Northern Maryland
1776: Charles Carroll of Carrollton signs the Declaration of Independence
1892: Ely Carroll described in O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees
2004: Carroll DNA project started at FTDNA
2008: New Carroll DNA project member, kit 112378, is a close relative of Charles Carroll of Carrollton
2011: Ely Carroll DNA project started at FTDNA

The map to the right shows Éile, the territory of Ely Carroll, in the north eastern part of Munster in 700 AD, in the present-day counties of Offaly and Tipperary. This map comes from a website developed by Dennis Walsh. He has a good summary of the history of Éile.

Click on a marker to see a description or photo.
Zoom in and zoom out by clicking on the "+" or "-" or moving the scale up or down.
Move the map by holding down the clicker or clicking on the directional arrows.
Click on a category in the Legend to see only those markers.

The Ely Carroll DNA Project was started in January 2011. The project is designed to attract Ely Carroll descendants, encourage upgrades to the 67-marker test, and promote Ely Carroll research.

You can participate in our project as well as a project specifically set up for your surname. There is no additional cost for being part of two projects.

By testing the Y-chromosome DNA, males can determine the origin of their paternal line. Note that the Y-chromosome DNA strictly checks the paternal line, with no influence of any females along that line. Females do not receive the Y-chromosome, and therefore females cannot be tested for the paternal line. If you are a female and would like to know about your paternal line, you would have to find a brother or a male relative from that line willing to be tested.

The two swabs and scraper tubes in the FTDNA Kit. For more on how it's done, see "DNA Collection Method" by Dave Dorsey.

Y-chromosome DNA goes back male to male like traditional surnames.

You sign up online for FTDNA and they deduct the cost from your credit card. They send you in the mail a kit containing two scrapers that you use to swab the inside of your cheeks in four-hour intervals. You return the scrapers in receptacles and mailer provided in the kit. You get final results on line two months later.

If you decide to have your DNA tested, you should choose the 67 or 111 markers. The lesser tests of 12, 25, or 37 markers do not include marker 492, which is key to verifying a match with Ely Carroll descendants.

Most names have multiple origins. For example, there are Carrolls with 25 different types of DNA. For this reason, your results may show that your DNA does not match the Ely Carroll DNA, which will lead you in a different ancestry direction.

All of the current participants in the Ely Carroll project who have tested 67 markers are predicted by FTDNA to have the M269 SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism). The terminal SNP for Ely Carroll is DF21. The Ely Carroll SNPs downstream of M269 are L23, L11, P312, L21, DF21. Ely Carroll shares the DF21 SNP with a number of other people, some of whom have further downstream SNPs. See L21 and DF21 SNPs.

No Ely Carroll kits have tested positive for SNPs downstream of DF21. A number of kits have tested negative.

3 kits have tested negative for Z246.

1 kit has tested negative for DF25.

2 kits have tested negative for DF5.

3 kits have tested negative for Z253.

2 kit has tested negative for L720.

8 kits have tested negative for P314.2.

Geno 2.0. Linville 23133 participated in the Geno 2.0 test, but no SNPs were found downstream of DF21.

BIG Y. In November 2013, FTDNA announced a new SNP testing program called BIG Y, which has the possibility of discovering SNPs downstream of DF21. Rose 6781, Bowe 146114, and Tracy 45013 have applied for BIG Y test. Results are not expected until February. If representatives of different subgroups within Ely Carroll take the test, we may learn something about how the Ely Carroll group evolved over time.

Parallel to DF21. There are a number of SNPs that are parallel to DF21. No Ely Carroll kits have tested positive for parallel SNPs.

12 kits have tested negative for M222

2 kits have tested negative for DF23.

9 kits have tested negative for L226.

7 kits have tested negative for L159.2.

3 kits have tested negative for Z253.

1 kit has tested negative for L513.

SNP Results Page. Following is a chart showing the positive and negative Y-DNA SNP test results for the current participants in the Ely Carroll project.

Ely Carroll DNA database is not limited to people who join the Ely Carroll DNA Project. It is gleaned from various projects at Family Tree DNA that included Ely Carroll surnames or surnames that match people in the Ely Carroll DNA Project. It was fairly easy to construct this database. We had the names from Irish histories. We went to FTDNA surname projects for those surnames and pulled off the data for people who had tested 67 markers and matched the modal DNA of Ely Carroll people.

Including anyone who matched Ely Carroll DNA resulted in a variety of people with Ely Carroll DNA--some with Ely Carroll surnames and some without. There were plausible reasons for the existence of this latter group: adoption, name change, historical pedigree omissions, and distant cousins.

Table of DNA Marker Values. The table below shows the 111 DNA marker values for the 79 people in the database as of December 2013 and the modal DNA for the group. Some have tested only 67 markers.

The ancient genealogies and DNA test results seem to be confirming each other. A pattern or "signature" DNA has emerged for Ely Carroll descendants identified long ago by John O'Hart and others. And the ancient genealogies have given us a clue as to which people have Ely Carroll DNA.

The study of Ely carroll DNA began with a preliminary modal DNA for relatively small number of people who had Ely Carroll names and DNA similar. This modal DNA evolved into a modal DNA, based on data from the Ely Carroll DNA Project, under the user ID of TG7S3 at Ysearch. This TG7S3 Ely Carroll Modal DNA is now the one used in this study. Since June 2009 the database of people with Ely Carroll DNA has expanded and the modal has been recomputed. Each time, the modal has remained the same.

A reference group was put together of people who do not have the Ely Carroll DNA. This group helps to understand the uniqueness of Ely Carroll DNA, such as marker 492=11.

The next step was to compute the genetic distance from Ely Carroll Modal DNA for each person in the study. Genetic distance occurs because of mutations from one generation to another. If two people are identical in all markers except they are off in one marker by 1 point, the genetic distance would be 1. If they were off at 2 different markers by 1 point in each marker, then the genetic distance of those two samples would be 2. If they are off by 2 points at one marker and 1 point in a second marker, then the genetic distance would be 3. Genetic distance for certain markers or marker groups is limited to 1. This method of computing genetic distance is called the hybrid mutation model. If a marker has a null value for one person and a positive value for another, the marker is ignored.

Actual calculations were made using the FTDNA 111 Mode BETA version of the McGee Utility. Input to the utility consists of the DNA of the participants from the Source Data.

As of October 2013, there were 76 people included in the Ely Carroll database. They have been included because their DNA has been found to match fairly closely with Ely Carroll Modal DNA. Of these 76, 48 were included in the Ely Carroll DNA Project at Family Tree DNA. The rest have been by searching surname studies at FTDNA and through the use of Ysearch.

The genetic distance between the Ely Carroll group and the 67-marker Ely Carroll Modal DNA ranges between 1 and 12, and averages 6. Of the 76 people, 65 or 86% of the group have a genetic distance of 2 to 9.

There are 2,850 possible comparisons among the 76 Ely Carroll people: n*(n-1)/2, where n is the number of people. The genetic distances for these pairs range between 0 and 22. The average is 9.8. The total of such genetic distances up to 7 is 1,614, or 57% of the total possible matches. So, the matches that Ely Carroll people see are probably all fellow Ely Carrolls, but only 57% of the total.

FTDNA shows each participant his 67-marker matches up to a genetic distance of 7 on his homepage. And it allows participants to restrict the showing of their matches to the people in their surname project. In October 2013, the Ely Carroll database numbered 76. The theoretical 67-marker match experience (within a genetic distance of 7) varied considerably by individual, from 1 to 53. The average was 21.

As indicated above, the genetic distance between the Ely Carroll group and the 67-marker Ely Carroll Modal DNA ranges between 1 and 12. The table below shows the percentage ditribution of genetic distances at 67 markers and for fewer and more markers.

Percentage Distribution of 76 Ely Carroll Testers (20 with 111)

GeneticDistance

Markers Tested

1-12

1-25

1-37

1-67

1-111

0

46%

24%

1%

-

-

1

47%

38%

12%

3%

-

2

5%

14%

18%

8%

-

3

0%

11%

22%

8%

-

4

1%

11%

11%

12%

-

5

-

1%

11%

20%

5%

6

-

1%

5%

14%

-

7

-

-

13%

7%

-

8

-

-

4%

8%

5%

9

-

-

1%

9%

-

10

-

-

1%

4%

5%

11

-

-

-

5%

30%

12

-

-

-

3%

10%

13

-

-

-

-

10%

14

-

-

-

-

5%

15

-

-

-

-

10%

16

-

-

-

-

-

17

-

-

-

-

5%

18

-

-

-

-

5%

19

-

-

-

-

5%

20

-

-

-

-

5%

Total

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Average

0.6

1.6

3.9

6.0

12.9

Table of Genetic Distances. The table below shows the 67-marker genetic distances for the 79 people in the database as of December 2013. It shows the genetic distance between each one and the modal. For example, Carroll 112378 has a genetic distance of 4 from the modal. And his genetic distances from the other people in the database range from 5 to 15.

The genetic distances from the modal range from 1 to 12 (average: 6.0).

The genetic distances among the participants range from 0 to 22 (average: 9.8).

The identification of Ely Carroll DNA rests upon the similarity between two sets of 9 names.

A set of 9 names from ancient Ely Carroll pedigrees listed in John O'Hart's 1892 Irish Pedigrees and Geoffrey Keating's 1631 The History of Ireland.

A set of 9 names of men with similar Y-DNA gathered since 2003.

As of August 2014, there were 85 people included in the Ely Carroll database. They have been included because their DNA has been found to match fairly closely with Ely Carroll Modal DNA and they have marker 492=11. Within the Ely Carroll group, 41 (48%) have names historically associated with Ely Carroll.

Many people with Ely Carroll DNA do not have historical surnames. The major names are: Purcell, Springer, Tracey. Ely Carroll DNA has not yet been found for several historical Ely Carroll names: Corcoran, Healy, O'Gara/O'Hara.

Many people do not know where their patronymic ancestor came from, which is not uncommon. Only a small number of those tested live in Ireland. Most live in America. Many of those have resorted to DNA testing for the very reason that they do not know where there ancestors came from when the emigrated to America.

The Ely Carroll database includes some people with non-Irish sounding names. It includes some people who are related to each other. It includes surnames where there is only one representative.

Some names historically associated with Ely Carroll, like Healy, O'Hara/O'Gara, and Corcoran, are not found in the study. There are a number of good reasons.

Only a small number of people have had their DNA tested thus far.

Many who have had their DNA tested have tested only 12, 25, or 37 markers rather than the 67 required for this study.

Some people have been tested by an organization other than Family Tree DNA.

Some people may have lost their name because an ancestor changed his name or was adopted.

Ancient pedigrees probably included some surnames of people who were not really Ely Carroll descendants.

There are 43 people in the Ely Carroll database (57% of the total) that do not have historical Ely Carroll surnames. There are a number of good reasons.

The historical lists of Ely Carroll descendants were incomplete.

The name is on an historical list of Ely Carroll descendants but we have not found it yet.

In early Irish history there was the concept of “fostering,” where two powerful tribal leaders would place their infant son with the other family to seal a defensive alliance. It is likely that some of these sons took on the tribal name of the family with whom they were placed.

There was a name change by an ancestor.

They or an ancestor were adopted.

The genetic distance from the Ely Carroll modal DNA is essentially the same as for those with and without Ely Carroll surnames.

The descendants of Ely Carroll share a common pattern of Y-chromosome DNA markers, and many have surnames mentioned in ancient genealogies as descending from Ely Carroll. Not all people with Ely Carroll surnames, however, have Ely Carroll DNA. In the early days of Y-DNA testing, there was a tendency for people with Ely Carroll names to think that they were descended from Ely Carroll just because they had an Ely Carroll name.

Most people with Ely Carroll DNA are not the majority of those with their surname. In fact, the majority of people with Ely Carroll DNA are a minority of those with their surname. And, therefore, most people with Ely Carroll surnames do not have Ely Carroll DNA. The reason is that most Irish surnames appear in mutiple septs. For example, an analysis of people named Carroll indicates 25 different septs.

There are several explanations for this phenomenon of multiple-sept surnames.

The same surname developed independently in different geographic areas.

At the time surnames came into being around a thousand years ago, many surnames were based on relatively common given names.

A male was adopted by a clan other than the one he was born in.

A male married a woman from another clan and took her surname, perhaps because it was a more respected name.

A male changed his surname when he was ennobled or otherwise came into possession of territory, perhaps adopting the name of a respected prior holder of that territory.

A male was a subordinate (vassal, servant, slave, etc) of a member of another clan and took his master's surname when he became free.

A male took the surname of another clan without any connection to the clan, simply because it was a respected name.

All Ely Carroll project members who have tested for the L21 SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) have tested positive. L21 was discovered in October 2008. People with the L21 SNP are said to be members of the R1b1a2a1a1b4 haplogroup. As groups of scientists discover SNPs, they are named for the research lab and the order in which they are found. The L in L21 indicates that it was found at the Family Tree DNA Genomic Research Center in Houston, Texas. The L stands for Leo Little who did much pioneering work in genetic genealogy and who died in 2008. (L21 is known as S145 in some testing organizations.)

The L21 SNP is estimated to be 4,000 years old. It is sometimes referred to as a "Celtic" SNP. In their 2011 book The Scots, A Genetic Journey, Alistair Moffat and James F. Wilson say L21 "could be said to be the most emphatic signal of the Celtic language speakers of the British Isles. It is found in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and it is almost certainly characteristic of those farming communities who may have spoken early forms of Celtic languages in the centuries around 2,000 BC."

L21 SNP Tree, Including DF21

L21 (Celtic) (4000 ybp)

DF13

DF63
(Broom)

CTS6919(Franklin,McFarland)

DF49

DF23

Z2961

L513

Z255L159(Irish Sea)

Z253

DF21 (See Below)

DF41

L744

L745(High Stewards)

L1335(Scottish Cluster)

CTS4466(South Irish)(565=11)

Hy Maine(413a=21,557=17,565=11)

M222(Niall of the Nine Hostages)

L193(Scottish Borders)

L69(Airghialla 2)

L226(Brian Boru)

L1066(Continental Irish)

ybp is for years before the present, an estimate of when a SNP first occurred.
565=11 indicates that marker 565 has a unique value of 11.

Ely Carroll participants also have tested positive for the DF21 SNP, which is downstream of L21. The first Ely Carroll member tested positive for DF21 in August 2011. As of October 13, 13 of 48 members of the Ely Carroll project have tested for DF21 and all have tested positive. This further narrows the haplogroup for Ely Carroll descendants. All Ely Carroll descendants are expected to have the DF21 SNP. Other groups also have the DF21 SNP--perhaps 10 percent of all those with the L21 SNP. The DF21 SNP is estimated to be 2,500 to 3,000 years old, compared with 4,000 for the L21 SNP. It was discovered by an anonymous researcher using publicly available full-genome-sequence data, including the 1000 Genomes Project data. The DF in DF21 is taken from DNA-Forums.org, a now-defunct genetic genealogy community. (DF21 is known as S192 in some testing organizations.)

DF21 SNP Tree, Including Ely Carroll

DF21/S192 (3000 ybp)

P314

Z246DF25DF5

L130

S424S190(Little Scottish Cluster)(464a=13590=9)

S5488

S971

S5456(Galway Bay)(464a=16)

L658(Cain)

CTS3655L627

L1403(The Seven Septs of Laois)

L1446L1447

L1448

Z16294(492=11)

S7200

L588L1336L1337

Ferguson, Bruce

Z3000(Clan Colla)(511=9,425=0,505=9,441=12)(1600-1700 ybp)

Z16281Ely Carroll

See BIG Y Below

L130(Duffy, Corcoran)

L720(Clan Chattan?)

S6003

ybp is for years before the present, an estimate of when a SNP first occurred.
492=11 indicates that marker 492 has a unique value of 11.

Ely Carroll participants are urged to join the L21 project and DF21 project at FTDNA. The DF21 project has been set up by David Reynolds for people who have tested positive for the DF21 SNP or are interested in ordering the test.

The L21 Yahoo Group has been set up to serve as a forum for those interested in DF21 and other SNPs downstream of L21. We also have a Ely Carroll Yahoo Group has been set up to serve as a forum for those interested specifically in Ely Carroll DNA.

Continuing in the tradition that SNPs found by the community have the prefix Z, Alex Wlliamson has added Z names for many of the recently found shared SNPs on the tree (Z16281-Z16296). The CTS SNP was discovered by Chris Tyler Smith of The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a charitably funded genomic research centre located in Hinxton, nine miles south of Cambridge in the UK. The L SNP was discovered by Family Tree DNA.

Without BIG Y, we identified Ely Carroll DNA with two key marker values: 390=25 and 492=11. The first became known when FTDNA started. The second became known in 2006 when 67 markers became available. We also have Ely Carroll modal DNA, which was started in 2010. And, since 2012, we know that all Ely Carrolls have the DF21 SNP. We are thankful for all that. But it would be better if we had a SNP downstream of DF21 that specifically identified Ely Carroll DNA.

Past efforts to find an Ely Carroll SNP have failed. In 2012-13, Linville (23133) and Carroll (283359) participated in Geno 2.0 at National Geographic (tested by FTDNA). But no SNPs were found downstream of DF21.

In April 2014, Alex Williamson identifed new Y-chromosome SNPs for Ely Carroll testers downstream of DF21. The SNPs came from a new product called BIG Y, which looks at more than 1/3 of the testable portion of the Y chromosome.

Eleven Ely Carrolls have ordered BIG-Y. Characteristics of the testers are as follows.

Genetic distances from the 67-marker modal DNA for Ely Carroll range from 3 to 12.

FTDNA matches at 67 markers range from 1 to 40.

All have the key Ely Carroll STR marker value of 492=11. All except one has the key Ely Carroll STR marker value of 390=25.

Six have names that match up with names in ancient Ely Carroll pedigrees.

On your FTDNA personal page, if you have not ordered BIG Y, you should see BIG Y on the left side under the list of your projects. Click on "Learn More" to read more about BIG Y or order it. The current price is $575, but it is on sale for $525 until December 31, 2014, and can be further reduced to $425 with a coupon of $100. When it was introduced, the BIG Y test was on sale for $495 for the month of November 2013. The test was again on sale in June 2014 from the 9th to the 17th--this time for $595, further reduced to $495 if one could obtain a discount coupon from someone who had already tested. Effective July 28, 2014, the the regular price of the BIG Y test was permanently reduced to $595 from $695. The test was again on sale from August 28 to Sepember 3--this time for $495.

Individual tests are offered by FTDNA for certain SNPs for $39 apiece. These SNPs are in bold on the BIG Y tree above.

DF21 and Other L21 Subgroups

Modal based on people with surnames that Irish history says are descended from Ely O'Carrolls: Carroll, Bohan, Dooley, Meagher, Kelly, Murphy, Flanagan, O'Keefe, Redmond. One of the Carrolls is descended from the Carrolls of Carrollton. John O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees; or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation describes the relationship between the Ely Carrolls and the Carrolls of Carrollton on page 75. See also the Ely Carroll Yahoo Group maintained by Martha Bowes. All who have been tested have the DF21 SNP, a subclade of L21 that includes other groups.

See DNA of the Three Collas. This subgroup has a number of surnames historically associated with Clan Colla, including McDonald, McGuire, Carroll, McKenna, McMahon, Boylan, Duffy, Kelly, MacDougall. All who have been tested have the DF21 SNP, a subclade of L21 that includes other groups.

Three people have tested positive for SNPs S190 and S424. Testing of the SNP is not yet available at Family Tree DNA. The most common are Hall, Kilgore, Sloan, Boggs, and Williamson. This cluster's origin may well be in the vicinity of Stirlingshire, Scotland, about 900 to 1200 years ago. See the Little Scottish Cluster website.

Also referred to as Irish Type II. Descendants of the Eoghanachta, an Irish dynasty centered around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 7th to the 10th centuries, and the Corca Laidhe, rulers of Munster until the early 7th century. See Tim Desmond and Kathleen Sullivan Kerwin. Surnames include Sullivan, McCarthy, O'Keefe, Donahue, Driscoll, Donovan, Coffey.

Also known as Beatty-Byrnes. This profile is called the Leinster Modal, because early research showed that many families in Leinster in Ireland are members of the group. The group also appears to be plentiful in other parts of Ireland and Scotland, and there seem to be a number of English matches to the modal as well.

Also referred to by some as Dalriada. This group is referred to as str47 'Pictish' by Alistair Moffat and James F. Wilson in their 2011 book The Scots, A Genetic Journey. In 2004, a Clan Donald press release said that they believed this group was Clan Colla. Clan Donald now calls this the R1b-L21 Red-Black subgroup and refers to it as "a very common L21+ group in Scotland." In addition to McDonald, the group includes Alexander, Campbell, Ferguson, McRae, Mitchell, Roberts, Rogers, Stewart, Templeton, Young. There is a genetic distance of 18 between the modals for this group and Clan Colla.

Modal based on FTDNA kits for 15 people with surnames that Irish history says are descended from Maine Mor who lived in Galway and Roscommon: Kelly, Madden, Traynor, Larkin. This subgroup had previously been thought of by some as related to Clan Colla. DNA testing has proven otherwise, as evidenced by the genetic distance of 18 between the modals for the two subgroups. In April 2013, one Kelly and one Traynor tested positive for SNP Z2961. This SNP, like M222, is downstream of DF23. In 1843, John O'Donovan discussed Hy Maine in The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, which included his translation of the Hy Maine portion of the Book of Lecan.

Also referred to as Niall of the Nine Hostages and Northwest Irish. It had previously been identified in a Trinity College Study by a SNP called M222. This subgroup had previously been thought of by some as related to Clan Colla. DNA testing has proven otherwise, as evidenced by the genetic distance of 23 between the modals for the two subgroups. See Colla Versus Niall DNA. This was the original Irish type, so it should be called Irish Type I; but no one calls it that. For information on Niall of the Nine Hostages, see: The History of Ireland, by Geoffrey Keating (1569-1644), translated into English from the original Irish by John O'Mahony, 1857, pages 372 to 394. The Nine Hostages are explained on page 394. Surnames include Burns/Byrne, Cowan, Daugherty/Doherty, Ferguson, Ewing, McGonigal, Milligan, McLaughlin, O'Neill, and Wilson. David Wilson and John McLaughlin have a webpage at M222 Project. William E. Howard III and John McLaughlin have explored the DNA of Irish and Scottish surnames and possible ties to Niall in A Dated Phylogenetic Tree of M222 SNP Haplotypes.

The Airghialla 2 subgroup was identified by Joseph Donohoe. See Two McGuire Septs. This subgroup consists of McGuires from the same general area as the McGuires of Clan Colla, but with different DNA. There is no historical record of two separate groups of McGuires. While this group has many McGuires, it does not have the large variety of other historical Colla surnames that Clan Colla has. Surnames in this subgroup are McGuire, McManus, Byrne, Corrigan, Donohoe, McCauley, Garvey, Plunkett, McCown. A number of people have been found to have the L69 SNP. L69 is a sublclade of L513, which in turn is a subclade of L21.

The 67-marker modal DNAs of the subgroups listed above are shown in the following table.

The genetic distances among the 67-marker modal DNAs of the subgroups listed above range between 11 and 20 as shown in the following table. Calculations were made using the FTDNA 111 Mode BETA version of the McGee Utility. The method of computing genetic distance is the hybrid mutation model. If a marker has a null value for one person and a positive value for another, the marker is ignored. So, the genetic distances between the Clan Colla modal and other modals ignore marker 425 and are a little low. As an example, see Colla Versus Niall DNA.

Verification of Ancient Irish History

Cian, the progenitor of Ely Carroll, existed back in 3rd century Munster.

Clan Colla existed back in 4th century Ulster.

Brian Boru existed back in 10th century Ireland.

Hy Maine existed back in 4th century Connacht.

Niall of the Nine Hostages existed back in 4th century Ulster and Lowland Scotland.

McGuire/McManus existed back in 14th century Ulster.

The Lords of the Isles existed back in 12th century Scottish Highlands.

Correction of Ancient Irish History

DNA testing has also corrected some ancient genealogical connections that had historically been thought to exist.

McDonalds who were Lords of the Isles had previously been thought by some to be descended from Colla Uais, but a group descended from the Lords of the Isles, including chiefs and chieftans, has been found by Clan Donald DNA project to have Viking DNA. There is, nevertheless, a significant number of McDonalds with Clan Colla DNA, some of whom are descended from Colla da Crioch, but most of whom appear to be descended from Colla Uais. There are also a number of McDonalds descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages and a Scottish cluster thought by some to be from Dalriada or Pictish. A December 2010 study of 213 McDonalds with 67 markers showed the following distribution: 21 Clan Colla, 18 Niall of the Nine Hostages, 27 Scottish cluster, 61 Norse, and 86 ungrouped.

All McGuires had previously been thought by some to be descended from Clan Colla, but there is a significant group of McGuires and their McManus descendants that have different SNPs from Clan Colla and a genetic distance of 21 from Clan Colla.

Hy Maine and Clan Colla had previously been thought by some to be descended from a common ancestor, but they have different SNPs and there is a genetic distance of 17 between their modals. There are Kellys with Clan Colla DNA, but they are likely from another Kelly pedigree called Clankelly.

Northwest Irish (Niall) and Clan Colla had previously been thought by some to be descended from a common ancestor, but they have different SNP and there is a genetic distance of 20 between their modals.

South Irish, Brian Boru, and Ely Carroll had previously been thought by some as descended from a common ancestor, Olioll Olum. DNA testing has proven otherwise, as they have different SNPs and significant genetic distances between their modals:

9 between South Irish and Brian Boru,

13 between South Irish and Ely Carroll, and

12 between Brian Boru and Ely Carroll.

The fact that some historic connections are contradicted by DNA should not be taken as a denunciation of all history.

Patrick McMahon analyzed the geographic distribution of the members of the L21 project at FTDNA in January 2011 and made the following observation.

Assuming today's testers are a random sample, these results support the views put forward by many that the L21 SNP occurred somewhere north of the Alps (about 4,000 years ago) and the L21 population drifted Northwest over time concentrating in the western fringes of the British Isles mainly in Ireland. North of the Alps would most likely be Germany or France where the original (presumed) high numbers would over time be replaced by further waves of migrants or simply driven North by more advanced civilisations.

How they made their way to Ireland is open to conjecture. The shortest sea journey then (3,000 to 4,000 years ago) as now would be from France to Southern England. However, they could have made their way directly to Ireland from Brittany (or via Cornwall or Wales). The figures support the view that there was no significant migration towards the Eastern parts of Europe and only minor ones to Scandinavia and Spain with the main thrust through Northern France to Britain and Ireland. Archaeologists have termed these peoples (and the proto-Collas are part of this population) as 'Bronze-age' Britons.

For a good presentation of the origins, age, spread, and ethnic association of Europeans see The Peopling of Europe and Eupedia. Following is a haplogroup timeline taken from Eupedia. "ybp" is years before the present.

One of Lee Morton's relatives had asked sometime ago about DNA and the Bowes family. At the time, he wasn't comfortable with DNA itself, but he didn't give up and spent a hours on it, consulting Martha Bowes and myself. Here is what he came up with.

ANCESTOR RESEARCH USING THE PAPER TRAIL AND DNA

THE PAPER TRAIL

Traditionally, family historians and genealogists research family history using the so-called “paper trail”. They start with preliminary talks with immediate family members which yield varying insights into a particular family’s history. Once in a while, these searchers may “hit it big” by finding significant work already done by a family member. At some point, the researcher must continue the process back in time by following the paper trail.

The paper trail involves searching through various documents looking for life events of ancestors. In no particular order, documents include birth certificates, baptism certificates, marriage records, divorce proceedings, military records, death certificates, cemetery records, newspaper obituaries, City Directories (old telephone books), census records, and many others. Generally, a researcher works through these records from the certainty of known events backwards through time.

THE CARROLL FAMILY OF IRELAND AND MARYLAND

More affluent or otherwise well-known ancestors sometimes leave behind a treasure trove of genealogical information in the form of written family histories. The Carroll Family of Ireland and Maryland is a good example. Charles Carroll the Settler (1661-1720) was born and raised in Ireland, was a wealthy land-owner there and came to Maryland in 1688. His son Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702-1782) and Grandson Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) continued the family dynasty in Maryland, mainly through extensive land holdings and farming. Charles Carroll of Carrollton became a highly respected politician in Maryland and was a Signer of the Declaration of Independence.

When Charles the Settler came to the US in 1688, he brought an Irish manuscript with the genealogy of the O’Carroll Clan which remains in the possession of current-day Carroll descendants. The Carroll history, both in Ireland and Maryland, is covered extensively in a book titled “Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland – A Carroll Saga, 1500-1782” by Ronald Hoffman in collaboration with Sally D Mason, published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2000.

According to Hoffman’s book, the Maryland Carrolls were descendants of the Ely O’Carrolls of the Slieve Bloom Mountains which run for about 15 miles across the southeastern part of County Offaly in the Irish Midlands. Quoting Hoffman, Ely O’Carroll was the territory in which the O’Carrolls originally lived in Munster during medieval times. It encompassed parts of the modern counties of Offaly, Northern Tipperary and Laois.

The progenitor of the Carroll branch that produced the Maryland Carrolls was a Chief of Ely named Daniel O’Carroll from Litterluna in the northeast corner of Ballybritt. Daniel’s great-grandson, who died in 1377, was the last of the Litterluna Carrolls to be called a “Chief of Ely”.

The pedigree for Charles Carroll of Carrollton goes back before the creation of surnames in the 10th century AD, so it includes other names besides Carroll including Meagher, Tracey, Flanagan, and Dooley, as well as Bohan and Bowes.

THE BOWES

Jeane (Reisinger) Robinson (1948-2013) and I had independently researched our respective Bowes lines for years before we “met” on line about 2008. We both knew that our common great-grandparents were James J Bowes (1850-1896) and Catherine “Kate”(Haley) Bowes (~1859-1905) from Girardville, PA, near Pottsville in Schuylkill County. We also knew that James’ parents were Michael Bowes (1803-1865) and Anna “Nancy” (Wall) Bowes (~1815-1872) who were born in Ireland, and came to the US about 1848, and settled in the Pottsville area.

Jeane herself unearthed a few more major discoveries. She found that Michael Bowes was born February 20, 1803 in the civil parish of Muckalee in County Kilkenny, and his parents were Denis Boe and Mary Delaney. Michael married Anna Walls in Cretinclough, Muckalee, County Kilkenny on March 6, 1832. We don’t know, but possibly Denis and Mary were born there as well, probably in the early to mid 1700’s.

DNA AND GENEALOGY

What does DNA have to with genealogy? Well, we are talking about a part of DNA that is handed down from father to son just like surnames. It is called Y-chromosome DNA. Only males have it. Your DNA is contained in the cells of your body. And all the cells in your body have the same DNA, even your spit.

Jeane had just been introduced to DNA and was looking for a male ancestor line from herself back to James Bowes of Girardville. Being a female, Jeane has no Y-DNA and there were no males in her family with a straight line to James Bowes. My DNA would only tell us about Mortons. So we had to find a male Bowes whose father and grandfather, etc. were direct male descendants of James J. Bowes. That’s when we met Tom Bowes. Even though Tom has no interest in genealogy, he agreed to be tested for all of us and we entered the world of DNA with absolutely no knowledge of it nor of what we might discover.

Tom's DNA would not do us any good unless other people with Bowes and related surnames got their DNA tested as well. Fortunately, a company named Family Tree DNA started testing people's DNA in 1999. They are the largest company in the business, and one with an excellent reputation for quality work. FTDNA now has a database of a half million people. That's a small portion of the population, but big enough to be helpful. The database is available to the public online through various projects administered by volunteers approved by FTDNA.

People who have their DNA tested at FTDNA can join multiple projects. A surname project has people with the same or similar surnames but not necessarily the same type of DNA. A DNA-specific project has people with the same DNA but different surnames. One of the first things learned from Y-DNA testing is that there is a variety of DNA types among people with the same or similar surnames. And, there is a variety of surnames among people with the same DNA. The main reason is that surnames were not adopted until the 10th century AD, at which time people who were related took different surnames, usually based on their given name. And a lot of unrelated people had the same given name.

You sign up online for FTDNA, and they deduct the cost from your credit card. They mail you a kit containing scrapers you use to sample your saliva by swabbing inside your cheek. (You don't have to spit!) You return the scrapers in receptacles and a mailer provided in the kit. You get final results on line two months later. The cost depends on how much of your DNA you have tested. You can upgrade later if you find you want to test more than you signed for originally.

DNA SHOWS CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CARROLLS AND THE BOWES

Tom signed up for his test in February 2010. When results from his sample came in, I quickly realized I was in way over my head with the technicalities of the DNA science and language, and never learned to interpret the data provided by FTDNA. Luckily, there are volunteers at FTDNA who can do that, especially if there is a group of clients searching for the same ancestor. Luckily again, there was a group interested in the name Bowes.

My first contact was Martha Bowes who was administrator of the Bowes surname project at FTDNA. Later, I became aware that Peter Biggins was working on an Ely Carroll DNA project. Also, Jeane Robinson talked to Martha frequently and was able to work her way through the technicalities and strange DNA language to reach some well-founded conclusions. Jeane stayed close to Martha building an understanding of what Tom’s test meant for us. As Jeane put it: “In our Y-DNA (i.e., Tom’s), we have a gene sequence that came from a man whose ancestors lived in the Ely Carroll area of Ireland. He had a gene mutation that set his descendants apart. The reason we are sure we are from Ely Carroll is because a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton with known roots to the Carroll clan of Ely Carroll, is a DNA match to us. So, if his roots go to Ely Carroll, (there is a paper trail to show that this is true in Irish history), and we are a genetic match to him with this unique mutation in our Y-DNA, then our roots go back Ely Carroll. DNA doesn’t lie, we match.” To be clear, we ourselves do not have a line back to Charles Carroll, but we do have a line back to the Ely Carroll clan.

So, in 2008, a current-day descendant of the Carroll family of Maryland agreed to be tested by FTDNA. Two years later, Tom Bowes had his DNA tested by FTDNA, and the results proved a DNA match between the Carroll and Bowes families. The certainty of DNA proves that beyond a doubt. This is not to say that the Bowes family is descended from the Carrolls – there is no evidence of that. But we are related to them – and therefore to a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

As to when that Bowes – Carroll relationship occurred in time, we have no evidence of that, and may never find it. It could have been 300, 500, a thousand years ago – or more.

The clincher in this study is that Tom's DNA matches not only the Carroll of Maryland DNA but also the DNA of people with other names that are supposed to be descended from Ely Carroll, including Meagher, Tracey, Flanagan, and Dooley.

Ordnance Survey Letters for Offaly in 1838, hand written by historian John O'Donovan and his assitant Thomas O'Conor and published in a typescript by Fr. Michael Flanagan in 1933. Letters 54 to 57 pertain to Ely Carroll history.

Martha Bowes has an Ely Carroll Yahoo Group which has messages, files, and links relating to Ely Carroll. The purpose of the group is to learn about Ely Carroll from material submitted by group members and ask questions of group members. You can send messages to the group, respond to messages submitted by others, add Internet links and files relating to Ely Carroll, and learn from links and files submitted by others.